Page 179 of Only Be Mine

The phrasing felt wrong, but I let it go.

“I need boundaries,” I said. “Real ones.”

He nodded once. “Okay.”

I held his gaze. “I need you to stop making decisions for me.”

Another nod. “Okay.”

“And I need you to stop treating Seth like he’s a threat.”

Trevor’s expression tightened, just a fraction. “I don’t treat him like a threat.”

“You do,” I said. “You always have.”

A beat passed, then Trevor exhaled and softened his face again. “I’m sorry,” he said. “If it came across that way. Seth is… protective. I understand it. I just don’t love the idea of him undermining you when you’re already overwhelmed.”

My stomach turned.

Undermining me.

That wasn’t what Seth had been doing.

But Trevor said it like he was concerned, like it was his right, his duty, to guard his wife from other people’s opinions.

I crossed my arms lightly, not defensive, but grounding. “He wasn’t undermining me. He was listening.”

Trevor’s jaw worked once, the muscle ticking. “Good,” he said, like he was deciding to accept that. “Then we’re on the same page.”

He stepped closer, careful, and reached for my hands. I let him take them because part of me still wanted to believe in the version of us that had felt real last night.

“Do you want to eat?” he asked, gentle. “I can make something. Or we can order in. You didn’t really…”

“Trevor,” I cut in softly.

He stopped immediately, attentive. “Yeah?”

I swallowed. “I want to know what happened to John.”

The air changed.

Not dramatically. Not in a way someone on the outside would notice. But I felt it - like the temperature dropped two degrees, like the house itself had leaned in. I knew the moment John was confirmed dead, he went looking into the case, and with his connections, he could have easily gotten his hands on all the case files.

Trevor’s fingers tightened around mine and then loosened again.

“Cate,” he said carefully, “you don’t need to…”

“I do,” I said. “I’m not asking for gore. I’m not asking for crime scene photos. I’m asking for… the truth.”

He looked at me for a long moment, and when he spoke again, his voice was calm enough to be convincing.

“Seth shouldn’t have told you everything,” he said.

Heat flashed in my chest. “He didn’t tell me everything.”

Trevor blinked once. “He didn’t?”

“No.” I pulled my hands free gently. “He told me what he knew. And he told me he would tell me more when I asked. That’s the difference.”